Why we still love Anne Hathaway

I really love Anne Hathaway. From The Princess Diaries to Brokeback Mountain to The Dark Knight Rises, I think she’s fab as hell, not just as an actress but also as a human being. She’s talented, beautiful, socially aware and unashamedly herself. She’s not afraid to push her acting boundaries (even when she might not succeed), and she uses her star power to speak out for LGBT rights. She’s literally done nothing to give anyone reason to dislike her, so why do so many people hate Anne Hathaway?

Anne stars alongside Robert De Niro in The Intern and the upcoming release of this comedy got us at Cinefilles talking about this hate Anne-Hathaway bandwagon that has been making the rounds for years now. People claim that it’s because she’s smarmy or seems pretentious or some such nonsense, but 1) is that really a reason to hate someone? and 2) what exactly has she done to deserve the wrath of the public?

If we look carefully, the Anne hate really kicked off around early 2011 when it was confirmed that she’d be playing the role of Catwoman in the final instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Maybe it was a bunch of fanboys who thought that the star of ThePrincess Diaries and Ella Enchanted couldn’t pull off a legendary comic book character and unintentionally began a campaign against her. This campaign sudden gathered speed and suddenly everyone was anti-Anne seemingly overnight for no apparent reason other than “just ‘cause.” Whatever the reason may have been, it’s moot because if you stop to think about it, there are tons of things to love about Anne Hathaway.

To start with the most basic: she is a good actress. She’s not madly talented, nor is she painfully awful. She is good at her craft and only improves with each role she takes. She also branches out and her filmography boasts a smorgasbord of genres and features that range from independent to blockbuster for both adults and kids alike. She’s proven herself a great comic, as well as dramatic actress and even surprised us all by showing off her singing skills in Les Miserables.

She’s worked hard and made a very good career for herself, one which she rightfully guards against everything. When her former boyfriend, Raffaello Follieri, was being investigated by the IRS for defraudation, Anne broke up with him, stating that the investigation and things associated with it, along with the role she would inevitably have to take in it, would harm her career.

Anne is an outspoken activist for the LGBT community. On top of that, she’s a regular contributor to a handful of other charities including The Step Up Women’s Network, The Human Rights Campaign and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She even donated the money from selling the wedding photos to her marriage to Adam Shulman to various charities, but mostly those that were fighting for the legalization of same-sex marriage!

And then on top of all of that, Anne has never been known for saying an unkind word against her colleagues and has been extremely professional in all aspects of her public life. She’s always mature, respectful and has literally not done nothing to irk anyone and yet still everyone is irked by her!

If you ask me, it’s probably just because people are intimidated by someone who is seemingly too good. That could be why people view her as smug or pretentious, because she presents herself as a kindhearted human being who is liberal, open-minded and generous, but does not make a point to emphasize that. Instead, she focuses on her career and prefers that to be what she is judged on. Unfortunately, in this world, being a woman and not being judged for everything and anything you do is unheard of, so Anne ends up being scrutinized and people get sore when they can’t find anything to dislike about. So they dislike her for being likeable!

It’s a vicious circle and just goes to show that there is literally nothing a woman can do that will not get her thrown under the bus. Especially a woman who also happens to be a celebrity. Women are too often destined to be on the losing side of every team and Anne Hathaway is a perfect example of that theory.